Just A Few More Punioms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Diamond in the rough

A diamond in the rough, as we use the term today, describes someone who is a bit rough around the edges as far as sophistication and education go perhaps, but who has a heart of gold with values and ethics to match. Applied to this question, it describes the worth of a valuable diamond ring which has been covered up somewhere in the rough section of a golf course.

As far as the gem goes, it refers to the rough look of an unearthed diamond before it is cut and polished. The first use in print of this term is found in John Fletcher's 1624 work "A Wife for a Month" in which the character in question is described as being "...very honest, and will be as hard to cut as a rough diamond."

Answer: He left his foot in the door

The comical portrayal of traveling salesmen in comics and so forth is that they're very hard to get rid of, and, to prevent a door being slammed in their face, they will put their foot in the threshold so that the door cannot be closed. When this term first appeared in the mid 1800s, it meant just that, and was a literal interpretation of the term. We now use this term in a more figurative sense in the modern world to describe the first inroads made into an endeavour or scheme in which one wishes to participate. An example of this could be a graduate teacher who wishes to work locally instead of having to go hundreds of miles away inland to take up a job offer there. That teacher could volunteer her services at the local school to assist struggling students in various classrooms. If accepted - and they're always snapped up in Australia - she would likely then be considered for paid employment when a vacancy arises at the school.

An artificial leg is a wonderful invention that enables anyone who has lost a leg in an accident or war or disease perhaps, to be able to walk again with the aid of an artificial limb that replaces the missing body part. Artificial limbs of various kinds have been used by mankind for thousands of years. An example of this is a wooden toe that was found on a body dating back to the 16th century BC in Egypt. That sounds rather comical but apparently it is rather hard to walk without toes. Over the centuries that followed, the manufacture of artificial limbs became progressively more and more sophisticated. There are some amazing diagrams of same in Wikipedia if you wish to see them.

Answer: A house divided against itself cannot stand

A house divided against itself is a saying that tells us that any family, organisation or group of people with dissension in their ranks - such as a political party - isn't going to last very long. The internal bickering and discord will tear the group apart. I bet you know where this saying originates - and yes, you're correct - in the Bible.

In Matthew 12:25 of the King James version, the first full edition published in 1611, it states "And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand".

Answer: A load of cobblers

A cobbler is a person who repairs and renews worn out shoes and boots as much as possible, so that they can continued to be worn by their wearers. "A load of cobblers" is a once rhyming slang term originating in cockney England. Today we understand this to describe anything told to people that is considered a pile of rubbish by its listeners. The origin of this term is somewhat more vulgar than that, however. Its full expression included the tools - awls - used by cobblers to push holes through leather, and was originally known as "cobblers awls". This also had the same meaning to describe any yarn or rubbish that was highly improbable, and rhymed with a common term for part of the male physiology. Fortunately, we just describe any stuff and nonsense story today as "a load of cobblers" without the blunt attachments.

As far as the occupation goes, you may be interested to know that, historically speaking, a cobbler once only repaired and mended shoes and boots. A person who actually manufactured this footwear from scratch was referred to as a cordwainer. The origin of that word referred to the cordwain, or cordovan, leather that was made in Cordoba in Spain. It was considered the crème de la crème of leather. Cobblers of the guilds of the time were banned from making footware from any new leather, and if they wanted to include manufacturing in their trade as well, they could only use old, used or discarded scraps of this material.

Answer: A man after his own heart

The idiom "A man after my own heart" is applied by one man to another to describe someone who is of the same beliefs, or morals, or ethics, or similarities in thinking of any kind as himself. In a sense it reinforces the sense of self of both men and reaffirms what they consider to be mutual approval of all their actions. Organ donations are a grim reality of modern life where, upon the certain death or near death of a donor, and following prior legal approval, his or her vital organs are removed to be transplanted into the body of a desperately sick or dying individual in order to extend that person's own life. While the cost to the donor's grieving family are loss and sorrow, an organ donation gives the gift of precious life and joy to another, and that can only be a wonderful thing to do.

This term, nothing to do with organ transplants of course, originates in Samuel 13:14 and in Acts 13:22 in the King James Bible. It states in Samuel that "But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee". In Acts, it states that "And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will".

Answer: A la carte

A la carte is a French term given to food that can be ordered individually from a restaurant menu, as opposed to food comprising a set menu (known as table d'hote). Chefs of the highest order tend to work in fancy, highly priced establishments where food is more often than not described in exotic French terms, and where they can give free range to their creative and highly trained culinary skills. These type of establishments are usually frequented by the elite or wealthier members of society with pinkies crooked at just the right angle and with very healthy incomes. You'd seldom see these people, for example, munching on a drumstick at a Kentucky Fried Chicken establishment - or a five star chef turning out a Big Mac burger at McDonald's.

A cart was a four wheeled vehicle pulled by animals, used to transport people and goods here and there before the introduction of motorised vehicles of assorted sizes came into being. One of course would never see a fancy, highly paid chef, arriving to work at his highly priced a la carte restaurant anywhere today in an ordinary old wooden cart pulled along by a couple of bullocks. Unless, of course, they were going to be part of the menu for that day.

Did you know that the term "a la carte", which sprang into use at the beginning of the 1800s, pre-dates the term "menu", which didn't appear until the 1830s?

Answer: A penny for your thoughts

A penny for your thoughts is usually a statement addressed to individuals who are so absorbed in what they're dwelling upon that they hardly seem aware of what is going on all around them. The first known printed use of this term can be found in Thomas More's 1535 "A Treatyce upon the last thynges", in which it is written "In such wise yt not wtoute som note & reproch of suche vagaraunte mind, other folk sodainly say to them: a peny for your thought". A basic translation of that olde English is that if you wish another person to rejoin the conversation when they appear to be far away in thought, is to offer to pay them a penny for those thoughts.

Scrooge McDuck is the very lovable but very stingy old multi-millionaire duck created by the Walt Disney team in 1947. He's portrayed as Scottish in descent, with an accompanying accent, and (with apologies to any Scottish readers) with the associated (erroneous) belief that the Scots are all skinflints. At best, he is very, very thrifty and not at all keen to be separated from any of his wealth at all, so, as you see from this question, he was only prepared to offer his lawyer the smallest sum possible for his legal advice. I loved Scrooge McDuck as a child and often wished he'd adopt me. Such sterling work ethics and values - and such a sterling lot of sterling to match. Think of the teddy bears this could have purchased!

Answer: A sea change

A tsunami, otherwise known as a tidal wave, is a series of sometimes horrifyingly high waves that are the result of a vast amount of water displacement caused by underwater earthquakes, or volcanic explosions, meteorites striking the ocean, or any other major natural geological events.They can even be caused by the detonation of man made nuclear devices under the waves, which is an ever so cheerful thought given the overwhelming insanity raging in the world today. A sea change is a term usually applied to any major change made by individuals, societies or organisations that has radically altered the way they view or carry out life or operations from their previous methods of operation or life style. A startling metamorphosis has been made in some way. This term first appears in Shakespeare's 1610 play "The Tempest" where he has the character Ariel singing the following:

"Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell..."

That originally meant a change brought about by the actions of the sea, but today, as detailed above, we use the term in a much broader sense.

Answer: A skeleton in his closet

A serial killer is usually defined as a person who has murdered more than three people in some terrible manner for his own psychological gratification. This method of killing can take place over years with the list of victims ever increasing until the killer is caught or dies. There is usually a pause between each murder until the lust to kill takes control of the killer again. The victims bodies are disposed of in any number of ways - perhaps even being stored in the family larder. A skeleton in the closet is a term that means someone or some organisation or group has a dark secret from their past that has been successfully hidden away or covered up, sometimes for years, until finally revealed. A child molester, for example, who has managed to hide his crimes for thirty years could be an example of someone having a figurative skeleton hidden in his closet. How society chooses to deal with that skeleton, when finally uncovered, can either condemn that society to permanent contempt from the rest of the world, or hold up that society as a shining example of truth, justice and decency.

The saying "A skeleton in the closet" first appeared in print in the early 1800s, but, at that time it referred more to keeping the possibility of a hereditary illness or current disease hidden from the rest of society. In "The Eclectic Review", a British monthly journal, an 1816 article by William Hendry Stowell states that "Two great sources of distress are the danger of contagion and the apprehension of hereditary diseases. The dread of being the cause of misery to posterity has prevailed over men to conceal the skeleton in the closet...".

Answer: Fool's paradise

A fool's paradise is an idiom that describes anybody living a life of happiness, content or comfort built upon a completely false or dishonest set of beliefs or circumstances that, sooner or later, will come tumbling down around their ears. Their house has been figuratively built upon the sand in other words. This saying first appeared in writing in a series of letters and other documentation written by members of the Paston family in Norfolk, England between 1422 and 1509, in which one writer states in 1462 in regard to some matter of concern that "I wold not be in a folis paradyce."

It again appears in 1592 in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" where he has the scolding nurse, concerned about her charge Juliet, stating to Romeo that "...I Pray you, sir, a word...but first let me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they say, it were a very gross kind of behavior, as they say: for the gentlewoman is young...".